


I'm Here Forever

by AliceMarylin1999



Series: Screaming Void [3]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Aziraphale Loves Crowley (Good Omens), Crowley Loves Aziraphale (Good Omens), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 23:29:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20732501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceMarylin1999/pseuds/AliceMarylin1999
Summary: The last part of the "Screaming Void" series. Crowley and Aziraphale are finally together after the non-Apocalypse. In the epilogue Crowley meets some nice young people and makes friends with them, bragging about his happy marriage with Aziraphale.





	I'm Here Forever

Crowley locked the door and turned around. Aziraphale was standing a few inches away from him, looking him in the eyes. He then leaned closer and gently - gently and properly, using both hands - took Crowley's glasses off.

They held hands all the way back from Tadfield, on a bus, but this closeness still felt utterly strange and exciting.

"Where should I...?", he started, but Crowley quickly took the glasses from his head and put them on a small table near the mirror, without as much as looking away. He then stepped closer and embraced Aziraphale carefully, pulling him closer. Aziraphale put his hands on Crowley's back and rested his chin on his shoulder. Crowley moved his own head closer to him, so they stood, almost cheek to cheek, silent and trembling.

“It’s alright, angel. It’s alright. We’re home”, Crowley whispered, caressing angel’s hair with his free hand.

“Home”, Aziraphale repeated softly.

“I’m so very sorry about the bookshop, Aziraphale”, Crowley went on. “But still, I’m beyond relieved. You’re alive, you’re here”

“Crowley”, Aziraphale whispered. “Your scarf was there. In a bookshop”.

His eyes were sad.

“I can give you another scarf. Any, or all of them, for all I care. Or I can offer myself instead of it”, Crowley said with a little smile. The angel smiled back, still looking sad.

“I think I’m exhausted”, he whispered.

"Do you want to lie down?", Crowley asked, gently pulling away.

"I think I do. Will you..."

"I will. But you need to take your shoes off here"

"Oh, right"

After they both took their shoes off, Crowley put his jacket on the same table where the glasses were already put, and lead Aziraphale to his bedroom.

“There it is”, he said. “Enough space for both of us. Only one blanket, I’m afraid, but it will do, I guess. Please, do take off your layers, it will be ridiculous to tuck into a bed with that… Coat and tie of yours”

Aziraphale took off his coat, his waistcoat, and bow tie and looked uncertainly at Crowley, holding all those clothes in his hands. 

"Just drop them to the floor", Crowley said, wearily. "Lie down, it's fine. I'm still all dirty from the two fires I've been to. No time for laundry..."

Aziraphale curled up on the bed, breathing heavily. He looked more than just exhausted, it looked as if something was broken inside him. Crowley lied beside him, embracing him from the back, and kissed him on top of his head, in a mess of blonde curls. Underneath the angel's sweet scent there still was a smell of smoke. Or was it Crowley? He thought that the right word for him would be “grilled”, after all the fires he’d been to in the last 24 hours.

"Are you alright, angel? What is it?", Crowley whispered in his ear.

" You were right about the sides. About my lot. All along. I should've listened to you", Aziraphale said bitterly.

"What happened? Why did you decide to join me, after all?", Crowley asked.

" Long story. Maybe later. But I had to learn the hard way. They never cared about humans, or..."

"Or you?", Crowley asked softy. " I'm sorry. They shouldn't have been like that. How does it make you feel?”

“Strange. Empty. I never thought it would come to that”

“I'm sorry”, Crowley whispered, gently planting a kiss on the angel’s nape.

“Don't be. You warned me, after all. Back then”

“You trusted them, still. I know it hurts. I did too, once”

“I should've trusted you instead. You came back for me, twice”

“What else would I've done?”

“Rescue yourself? Go off to the stars?”

“All alone? No. That's not right”

“I'm sorry for things I said”

“Don't be. It's fine”

“I'm glad it's not over”

Aziraphale turned around to be face to face with Crowley

" I don't think we should part", Aziraphale whispered. “Not ever”

"We won't", Crowley said, looking softly.

"Not ever"

"We won't after we win. Not ever"

"Promise me, Crowley"

Aziraphale put his hand on Crowley’s shoulder.

"I promise. I was ready a long time ago"

"Why?”, Aziraphale asked with his voice slightly trembling. “Why me?"

"Don't know. It has always been you"

"I love you, Crowley. I love you. Please, forgive me"

"There's nothing to forgive. I love you, angel"

"I'm scared"

"I know. Me too"

"I'm scared for you"

"We will win. We must. I thought you were gone today. No way I'll let that happen again"

"When it's over you'll tell me everything, everything that happened. Oh, you drove a burning car on top of it..."

"Ahh...”, Crowley sighed in pain. “I loved that car. I'll miss it"

"I'm sorry..."

"It's alright. I love you more"

"Well, that means something, I can tell now"

Crowley pulled him tighter.

"We have to win, angel. We have to"

"If we won't..."

"Don't”, Crowley whispered passionately. “Don't say that. We will"

"But if we won't..."

"Stop it, Aziraphale. Don't even think about it"

"I love you, I want you to know that, Crowley. I made a mistake, but I want you to know it now"

"You'll tell me that thousand more times. Don't think you're gonna have it easy. We'll be together for so long, you're gonna be sick of me"

"Even if I will, I'll never leave you. You've already made me sick, I know how to deal with that"

Crowley laughed softly.

"You bastard"

"I guess I am"

Crowley took one of the angel’s hands in his own and kissed it fervently.

"Angel"

"I'm yours now, Crowley"

"And I'm yours"

"What will happen next? After we're done with them"

"What do you want to happen?"

"I... I want to live. Same way we've both done before. Only without parting"

"Then we'll find a place for us both and live together"

"Can you imagine that? A place of our own?"

"I've imagined it a lot. I even proposed to build such a place on another planet, if you remember..."

"It won't have to be another planet now. It can be England"

Crowley smiled.

"All I can think of is seeing you every day after I wake up. I like to sleep, angel, you should know that"

"And I love to read all night. And I...I have to confess... I can't cook"

Aziraphale looked embarrassed, and Crowley grinned amusingly.

"Of course you can't. With all those lunches I've been buying you. Well then, I'll cook for you"

"Do you know how to cook?"

"Not yet, but it can't be too hard"

"Oh, Crowley..."

Crowley’s hand stroked the angel’s hair gently and then went down to his cheek, his fingers lightly brushing over Aziraphale’s pale skin.

"I'll take care of you. I'll protect you. I promise"

"You always did, Crowley. I love you"

"And I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you! We're all alone now, angel. Just the two of us. We need to find a way to be stronger than all of them”. 

“I know. They'll find a way to rip as apart. Love isn't enough to stop that, I fear”.

“No, but it can help. What if we swap bodies so they'll drag me to Heaven and you to Hell?”

Crowley’s face looked determined, but still a bit frightened.

“Can you even come there, Crowley?”, Aziraphale asked, worried. “You could barely walk on the consecrated ground”.

“I don't know, last time I was there I was pushed down to Hell. But I'm afraid we won't come up with anything better”.

Crowley smiled.

"Why are you smiling?", Aziraphale asked, smiling himself.

"You're small", Crowley whispered, looking lovingly.

"I'm not". 

"I know you're not. But you look small now. And sweet. And nice. When I hold you like that"

"We should never be apart again"

"And we won't, I promise"

"I love you so much, Crowley, I love you so much it hurts..."

"Shhh-shh, I'm here, nothing to hurt, I'm here"

"I can't imagine what they'll do to you in Heaven..."

"Nothing they haven't already done. We have to believe in us now, angel. It's no time for despair. It shouldn't hurt. I'll always be with you, I'm yours"

"Mine” Aziraphale pulled himself closer. “And I'm yours"

"My angel. Mine. But if they kill me, please live. And know that I loved you more than anything"

"No, Crowley, stop that. We live together. We die together”.

Aziraphale feared that Crowley will start arguing, but he didn’t. He just nodded and closed his eyes.

“Crowley”, the angel went on. “You only kissed me once, so many years ago”

The demon opened his eyes, looking unbearably sad.

“I did. And you kissed me back. And left me”

“It’s not right. Come here”

Aziraphale took Crowley’s head in his hands and for the first time in his life, kissed him. His lips trembled from all the anxiety they both shared, but it didn’t matter then. They both never wanted the kiss to end, but they both knew they had to tear themselves apart.

“Listen”, Crowley whispered. “It may be the first time. But it won’t be the last. It can’t be. Let’s get up and prepare”

“Alright”, Aziraphale said with a smile. “We’ve got some suckers to beat down”.

**Epilogue.**

“I’ll be within an hour, angel”, Crowley said on the phone. “I’ve got everything except for those mini bananas, they’re nowhere to be found. Yup, all fine. All fine. Listen, I’ll have some coffee to sober up, I mean, to wake up from this shopping nightmare, and I’ll drive right back. Have some mercy on me, I’m a demon, for Satan’s sake. Let me indulge in double Frappuccino if it can’t be whiskey this time of the day. No, no, I won’t stay for long. Listen, angel, you’re only making it longer, I’ll be soon. Yes. Me too. Love you too. Yes, I mean it. Wait for me to come and you’ll see exactly how much I mean it. Chao”

Crowley signed as he closed the car after fitting in all the bags. Shopping malls were an invention of Hell – literally, and Crowley even used to know the demon who was responsible for them, only he could not remember his name now. He entered the lovely pub he’d been to so many times, grimly regretting he was only going to get a cup of coffee this time, still craving it, though, more than he had ever craved alcohol. As he was about to put his head on the table in exhaustion, a young girl approached him.

“Good evening sir”, she said smiling. She looked no older than 25 years old, dressed in a lovely short dress and a leather jacket.

“Evening”, Crowley answered, tiredly.

“Listen, my friends and I see you here all the time. You always come here alone, and we…”, she pointed to a table with two more girls and two young men, all rather good looking. “We wanted to invite you over. We all grew, well, kind of fond of you, sir, you’re always so nice and pleasant with everyone. I saw you tipping the waitress 20 pounds the other day, sorry for the lurking…”  
_“Nice and pleasant, what have I become with this angel”_, Crowley thought to himself with a smirk. _“If he were there, he’d try to make a point that is indeed my true nature. Well, talking to some young humans can’t hurt, it can, in fact, make me less of an old married retired rock-star type…_”

“Alright, just let me grab my coffee first”, Crowley said. “Oh, speak of the devil”, he added as he saw a waitress with his double americano. He took out a 100-pound banknote – who counts them if he can make them out of thin air – to further impress his new friends and gave it to her. The waitress smiled broadly, looking just a bit infatuated.

“So, what is your name?”, one of the guys asked, as Crowley came sitting to their table with his big mug of coffee. “And why are you always in the glassed indoors?”

“That’s so rude, Ian. I’m so ashamed of him, please, forgive us”, said the blonde girl who invited Crowley over.

“That’s alright”, Crowley said with a little smile, taking a big sip of coffee. “Name’s Anthony Crowley. As for the eyeglasses – medical condition. They hurt if I don’t wear ‘em. Eyes, I mean”

“See? That WAS rude”, the blonde went on, looking embarrassed. “I’m Kim. Very nice to meet you, Anthony. Are you, by any chance, a descendant of… You know?”

“Of who?”, Crowley asked, genuinely puzzled.

“Well, Aleister Crowley?”, another girl, black with messy braids, asked him. “I’m Carol, by the way”

“Ah, that one. Why would I be? Nah, he’s a fraud. I mean he was. Never mind, I’m the original one. That one was a pretender”

Young people took it as a joke, though Crowley was as serious as ever. The idea of him being a descendant of that ridiculous ponce A.C. was rather amusing, still, and he laughed himself.

“So”, Carol asked. “Why are you always alone here, Mr. Crowley? I bet I see at least a couple of people each night checking you out”

“Ehm, well, my husband is not a huge pub fan”, Crowley answered. “He doesn’t find the aesthetics appealing. And I’m still used to it, from my bachelor cent… Years, I mean”

“I told you!”, the second guy said, triumphally, to a girl with curly light-brown hair, sitting rather quietly.

“What?”, Crowley asked.

“Please, never mind. It’s even more rude and embarrassing than the glasses question”, Kim said with a shy smile.

“No, go on, I want to know, you can’t possibly insult me, I can assure you of that”, Crowley said, his feeling of amusement now intensified.

“I told them you were gay, they didn’t believe me”, the guy explained, a bit embarrassed himself now. – “You are, right?”

Crowley was puzzled.

“I don’t know. I’ve only been with one person, that was him. I guess you can call that gay if you will”.

All of the girls and both guys were shocked to hear that. Now it was a bit too much for Crowley, so he took out his phone to distract his new friends. He found the most lovely picture of Aziraphale he currently had – and they all shared a degree of loveliness – and showed it to them.

“Look, there he is”, he said, a bit smug. “A cunning bugger. That’s my husband”

“Ooooh!”, Kim exclaimed affectionately. “That’s just so adorable, Anthony! Your husband is very handsome. Lys, over there” – she nodded her head to the shy brown-haired girl. “She’s gonna marry too”

“Really?”, Crowley said, turning his head to the girl, who looked no older than 19 years old. “How old are you, anyway?”

“I’m twenty-four”, Lys answered with a smile. “My girlfriend is twenty-seven. They”, she nodded to the rest of the company “keep mocking me that I’m getting married too soon. But they don’t understand how hard it is for someone like us”

“No, they don’t”, Crowley answered with a level of sympathy he didn’t expect of himself. “What time is it, by the way?”

“Almost nine”, Carol said.

“Oh, sshhhit!”, Crowley exclaimed nervously, taking a big sip of coffee from his mug. “I gotta go, or the angel’s gonna kill me. Beg your pardon, ladies and gents, I think I’m leaving NOW”

“Oh, it’s so sweet how you call him”, Kim said, looking at him amazed, as he got up. “Please, do join us next time you come. Or take your angel husband with you, even better!”

Crowley was half on the way to the exit, as he waved the group goodbye. “See you, guys! Nice meeting you!”

It wasn’t much, but this little talk made him feel warmer and merrier, somehow. The streets were half-empty, and within half an hour he was already home, at his and Aziraphale’s house in South Downs.

“Angel!”, he shouted. “I’m home. Help me out with the bags, will you?”

But it seems like the angel didn’t hear him. There was some kind of music coming from his room. Crowley stepped quietly there, listening with great attention.

_“__Death is no dream_  
For in death I'm caressin' you  
With the last breath of my soul  
I'll be blessin' you”

Aziraphale was standing, facing the window, back to him.

“Angel”, Crowley said loudly. “It is Sunday, but it shouldn’t be gloomy. Why are you listening to that?”

Aziraphale didn’t answer. Crowley stepped closer, wrapped his arms around the angel, and pressed his cheek to Aziraphale's. The angel’s cheek was wet.

_“Dreaming, I was only dreaming_   
_ I wake and I find you asleep_   
_ In the deep of my heart here”_

“Angel”, Crowley went on, whispering to the angel’s ear. “I’m back. I’m here. I met some nice young people and bragged about you for some time. Told them how I love my husband and what a fabulous nightmare he is”

He felt Aziraphale smiling, but a new drop of tear now touched their cheeks.

_“Darling I hope_   
_ That my dream never haunted you_   
_ My heart is tellin' you_   
_ How much I wanted you_   
_ Gloomy Sunday”_

The record stopped. Aziraphale stood silently, tears dropping from his eyes. Crowley held him tighter, now silent himself, only pressing his cheek to the wetness of the angel’s.

Finally, Aziraphale turned around and embraced the demon with his own arms, burying his face in Crowley’s neck, as the latter tilted his head upwards slightly. It was a lovely sunset outside, and only a tiny bit sad to watch. A lovely and just a tiny, tiny bit sad Sunday sunset.


End file.
